Prehistory
La Chapelle-aux-Saints: The 'Old Man' and the Neanderthal Image
The skeleton became the reference Neanderthal; Boule's stooped reconstruction shaped the brutish caveman image until later studies showed Neanderthals walked fully upright.
All Articles
Every Chronicle article on world history, newest first: battles, empires, disasters, discoveries and revolutions.
Prehistory
Pikaia: The Cambrian Chordate and Early Relative of Vertebrates
Pikaia is now regarded as an early stem-group chordate, a distant relative of vertebrates rather than their direct ancestor.
Modern Era
Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse (1941): Force Z Lost
Both British capital ships were sunk by Japanese land-based aircraft with the loss of about 840 men, leaving the Allies without heavy ships in the region.
Modern Era
Fall of Jerusalem (1917): Allenby Takes the Holy City
Ottoman forces withdrew and Jerusalem surrendered to the British, ending four centuries of Ottoman rule over the city.
Modern Era
Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879): Defence of the Mission Station
The British garrison held the post through the night; the Zulu force withdrew at dawn on 23 January.
Modern Era
Battle of Shiloh (1862): Grant's Bloody Test in Tennessee
Union victory; after a near-defeat on the first day, Grant and Buell drove the Confederates back to Corinth, Mississippi, at a cost of about 23,700 casualties.
Modern Era
Edison's Phonograph (1877): The First Machine to Play Back Sound
Edison demonstrated the first machine able to record sound and reproduce it, patented in February 1878, which founded the recorded-sound industry.
Modern Era
Catholic Emancipation (1829): Daniel O'Connell's Victory
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 allowed Catholics to sit in Parliament and hold most public offices, while the Irish county franchise was sharply restricted.
Middle Ages
Maori Settlement of New Zealand: The Last Great Migration
East Polynesian settlers made New Zealand their home, founding the Maori people and transforming the islands' environment within a few generations.
Middle Ages
Adal Sultanate (c. 1415): Muslim Rival of Medieval Ethiopia
Adal became the leading Muslim power of the Horn of Africa and the main rival of Christian Ethiopia until its decline in the late 16th century.
Middle Ages
Gajah Mada and the Palapa Oath: Majapahit's Great Expansion
Majapahit extended its overlordship across much of the Indonesian archipelago and parts of the Malay Peninsula.
Middle Ages
Jingdezhen (1004): How China's Porcelain Capital Got Its Name
The kiln town took the name of the Jingde reign and grew into the leading centre of Chinese porcelain, home to the imperial kilns from the Ming dynasty onwards.